Post Titled: the Zen of Traffic Congestion and da Getty Center


I managed to get myself across town again and to the Getty Center to see the Tim Hawkinson new works exhibit.

I go to the Getty every time I come to LA, it is a ritual of sorts, I like being above the city and looking down on the smog, looking across to wonder who the hell must live up on this hill overlooking Brentwood, Beverly Hills, etc. Drove by and took another peek at the spot where Nicole Brown was found stabbed to death by a mysterious and still-at-large killer...

This visit to the Getty I spent most of my time looking at the European and Italian Painting from the 1400's to the late 1800's. Normally that stuff would bore me to death, but this time each one came across as fascinating, warped and a perverse, human superstitiuosmadness- I was sort of going through the galleries at the same time as a Chinese family thinking "What must THEY be thinking looking at these images of a guy being tortured on a cross adn John the Baptist beheaded, jeez, they must think we are barbarians" because I couldn't think of any such imagery in old Chinese silkscreens... but here in the old Euroimagery Mary is being notified by an angel (Michael? or Gabriel) with Parrot-colored wings that she is knocked-up, or the images of Saints (Francis and Catherine of Siena) receiving their stigmata like laserbeams directly shot from Jesus' own wounds, the angels and Saints all doing their thing...
I also kind-of fell in love with a recently restored painting by Jean-BAPTISTE Oudry of a life-sized rhinocerous named "Clara" who was (in real life) on tour throughout Europe in the 1740's.

Tim Hawkinson "Zoopsia" show consisted of only 5 works total,- I believe- but the ueberorgan in the entry- an enormous functioning organ made from plastic sheeting, netting, paint cans and coiled tubing, plays a strange tune every hour, -it must've taken a lot lot lot of work, so maybe we can count that as more that one work of art compared to the life-sized bat made of plastic bags and twist-ties... meticulously created. THe other new works were also good- however the octopus photocollage in which the suckers are human lips making a smooshy-kiss steals the show, people just stare and huff-laugh, it is amazing. Oh, duh, got some video of Uberorgan:


Stuck in traffic for an hour on my way to LA and then another hour across town later I began to reach a feeling of one-ness with all the other drivers. Crazy spastic sneaky Los ANgeles drivers, you can get away with things here driving that would definitely not fly anywhere else. I was listening to Bjork's new album closely and extremely loudly for the first time, wearing sunglasses (which i never do but it was so goddamn bright that I had to) and really was just all-around content with the situation. However, i am always relieve to hand the car back off to Manuel at the end of the day.